Two of the last three times I filled my tank (2008 Altima 2.5SL), the pump kept kicking off prematurely and gas was coming out of the tank. I had to fill the tank very slowly to avoid this. Any idea what can be causing this? It was three different gas stations.

I'll guess at the non-return flap in the filler neck sticking partly closed - fill too fast and the filler starts to overflow, fill real slow and the fuel has time to trickle through the small gap under the flap.

This started happening with one of my cars after someone tried to siphon the fuel out of the tank. During the attempted theft, they bent the feces out of the little nozzle flap so that it now just dangles inside the filler neck.

I have to hold the fuel nozzle by the hose an force it upwards at an angle to get the fuel to flow into the tank.

My 2006 Durango was experiencing a similar fuel spit back issue. It was covered under an extended Chrysler lifetime warranty on the part, and I had it replaced a month or so ago. It hasn't happened since.

Originally Posted By: 123Saab

Happens on our 08 Liberty too, Chrysler does not think it happens.

Interesting. When I researched the issue on my Durango everything that I read said that it also covered the 2008 Liberty-service bulletin 14-003-13. Why is it that Chrysler would issue a service bulletin and cover it by an extended warranty, while at the same time they don't think it happens?

Friend at work had a 2011 VW CC. Took 20 minutes to get 10 gallons in the tank. Turns out some vent tube near the filler neck was clogged. The air in the tank couldn't evacuate when gas was pumped in, so the gas coming from the nozzle backed up quickly, causing the pump to stop. The only way for air to escape was back up the filler neck, so gas had to be added very slowly to allow for that. No idea if your Altima has a similar set up. Google up a parts diagram of the fuel filler for your car, might give you a clue as to what's going on.

Friend at work had a 2011 VW CC. Took 20 minutes to get 10 gallons in the tank. Turns out some vent tube near the filler neck was clogged. The air in the tank couldn't evacuate when gas was pumped in, so the gas coming from the nozzle backed up quickly, causing the pump to stop. The only way for air to escape was back up the filler neck, so gas had to be added very slowly to allow for that. No idea if your Altima has a similar set up. Google up a parts diagram of the fuel filler for your car, might give you a clue as to what's going on.

I was thinking that all cars had that second tube for venting purposes. My 1995 Escort does.

A quick google image search for that year/make/model filler neck shows it has a vent tube parallel to the filler tube. The vent looks to attach to the tank at one end and back into the filler neck a few inches down from the top at the other end (the end where the gas nozzle is inserted). Quite possible something is blocking that. I even saw pics of where spiders had nested in there and clogged it.

when i had the back of my 2006 gmc sierra apart, i found that there's a valve in the filler neck of the fuel tank that's spring loaded and stays shut unless a force acts from outside to push it inward, such as fuel when filling. the purpose of it is to prevent fuel from coming out in case of a rollover. i believe all gas tanks have this, and also makes it nearly impossible to siphon gas out of the tank because it will block any hose from making it through. my guess is that valve is sticking or not opening all the way preventing any significant volume of fuel from entering the tank quickly. otherwise everything else is sealed, the evap canister and purge valves are always closed unless commanded open by the pcm. your vent for when filling the tank is a separate small hose that runs alongside the big fill hose and goes to the filler neck thing up on the body where your gas cap is. if you look where you insert the gas pump into that fill neck, there will be a separate small hole there, that's the vent which works when filling the tank because the gas cap is off. but when the gas cap is on then the fuel system is completely sealed.

also gas with ethanol is quite a solvent, also attracts water, and over time can dry out that plastic valve and make it stick or corrode/rust the metal spring. using some kind of oil, like marvel mystery oil, which you can run with little problem in the fuel, shoot that down the fill neck every now and then to coat that anti-siphon valve and it may get better. otherwise if it's integrated into the plastic tank then you're looking at a new fuel tank.but don't dump a pint of mmo down the fill neck just before filling up with gas and wash all the mmo down, that'll defeat the purpose.